Rwanda : Annette Uwineza, the scientist exploring the diagnosis of rare diseases through facial recognition

Annette Uwineza, one of the few Rwandan women scientists specializing in human genetics, is breaking new ground in the diagnosis of motor development disorders in children in her country. Through her research, she examines how genetic abnormalities cause these conditions and explores how the use of facial recognition technology can help detect them. In 2021, her pioneering work earned her the L’Oréal –UNESCO Women in Science Award.

Annette Uwineza’s interest in genetics began early in her academic journey. After earning a Bachelor’s degree in general medicine from the university of Rwanda, she joined the same institution as a lecturer. While teaching, she pursued further studies at the university of Liège in Belgium, where she earned a PhD in medical sciences with a focus on human genetics in 2015. Her doctoral research focused on identifying the genetics abnormalities of intellectual disability in Rwandan patients.

In addition to her position as lecturer, she joined the University Teaching Hospital of Kigali – CHUK in 2016, where she worked in clinical genetics until 2020. She later served as the hospital’s Director of diagnostic and treatment support from 2020 to 2024. During this time, she led research focused on identifying genetic abnormalities causing psychomotor development disorders in Rwandan children. Her work also seeks to improve existing medical facial recognition softwares, originally developed for European and Asian populations, to adapt them to better serve African patients and detect these conditions.

In 2021, her work was honored with the L’Oreal-Unesco Women in Science Prize to allow her to pursue her research.

From 2022 until now, Annette Uwineza has been a researcher at the University of Rwanda.